Obsolete When All Are Employed

Iran: Jobs

Posted by admin On April - 9 - 2010

Interview from our Iranian Correspondent

*Contributions from OWAE’s Iranian correspondent, K.F.

1 — How does having an American college education or education in general affect opportunities in Iran? Do they idealize American education over there? Do they value education? How does religion play a part in these opportunities?

Nowadays, an American education is rare in Iran. It would be great to have a degree from the US though; it is quite prestigious. But, there are no relations between the two countries, and it is quite difficult to get a student visa to come to the US.

Only few wealthy people, who usually have relatives in the US, sometimes manage to send their kids to American universities.

The youth dream is coming to the US for school or work since both education and career opportunities are expensive or rare in Iran. Young people, in general, have no clear understanding of America.

These days, most people would need a Masters degree, at a minimum, to make it into the job market. Of course, if your daddy is connected you will have a much easier to time to succeed.

As for religion, connection to the Islamic Republic opens doors: you would make it into good schools and will probably land a job with the government.

2 — What are the typical jobs available there for men and women our age 18-27? Expectations, salary, etc.

It depends: wealthy kids often work for their parents’ business, and stay in the family circle. Poor kids, like me, don’t have a lot of choice. They could join the government if they know how to brown-nose or work for private companies. Overall, the unemployment rate is quite high Iran but family ties minimize the unemployment or underemployment pains.

3 — What does it take to get a job there? Cover-letters? Test? Resume? Referral? Corruption? How hard or easy is it?

Cover letters and resumes are not that important.

Referrals and corruption (connection) are the most important factors in getting a job. It is very difficult to make it into the job market though. It takes lots of brown-nosing unless your daddy is connected.

4 — How has the global recession affected Iran? Or not? Contagion effect?

Iran is isolated from the global economy. But, its stock market was affected in 2008.

The decrease in global oil prices has also badly affected the national budget. About 80 percent of the government revenues come from the oil exports. Iran didn’t save much when a barrel of oil was 140 dollars. Now that the price of oil is about 80 dollars a barrel, the government is in trouble.

If you would like to be Obsolete When All Employed’s foreign correspondent, please email us at questions@obsoletewhenallemployed.com

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World Fact: Iran

Posted by Tiffany A. On April - 8 - 2010

three equal horizontal bands of green (top), white, and red; the national emblem (a stylized representation of the word Allah in the shape of a tulip, a symbol of martyrdom) in red is centered in the white band; ALLAH AKBAR (God is Great) in white Arabic script is repeated 11 times along the bottom edge of the green band and 11 times along the top edge of the red band

*Here are the facts*:

Capital: Tehran Population: 66,429,284 (July 2009 est.)

Country comparison to the world: 19

Labor Force: 25.02 million *shortage of skilled labor

Labor force by occupation:

agriculture: 25%

industry: 31%

services: 45% (June 2007)

Unemployment rate: 11.8% (2009 est.)

Government type: theocratic republic (Islamic Republic of Iran)

President: President Mahmud AHMADI-NEJAD (since 3 August 2005); •

Cabinet: Council of Ministers selected by the president with legislative approval; Supreme Leader is appointed for life by the Assembly of Experts; president is elected by popular vote for a four-year term (eligible for a second term and third nonconsecutive term); next presidential election slated for June 2013

More Facts:

• Economy and government revenue rely on oil sector

• State controlled economic activity

• Private sector activity is typically limited to small-scale workshops, farming, and services

• Price controls, subsidies, make it unfriendly to private-sector growth

• Significant informal market activity flourishes (black market?)

• The legislature recently passed President Mahmud AHMADI-NEJAD’s bill to reduce subsidies, particularly on food and energy. The bill helps Iran’s lower classes.

• High oil prices in recent years allowed Iran to greatly increase its export earnings and amass nearly $100 billion in foreign exchange reserves.

• budget constraints due to lower oil prices lower oil production

Iran continues to suffer from double-digit unemployment and underemployment. Underemployment among Iran’s educated youth has convinced many to seek jobs overseas, resulting in a significant “brain drain.”

Population living under the poverty line: 18% (2007)

Inflation Rate (consumer prices): 16.8% (2009 est.)

If you have anything you would like to add, or have personal experience with Iran, please don’t hesitate to contact us at: questions@obsoletewhenallemployed.com

*source: CIA World Fact Book

Tomorrow: Employment answers from Iranian Correspondant

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UNEMPLOYMENT IN CHINA! Educated Students can’t find jobs

Posted by Tiffany A. On March - 8 - 2010

Ni jau gung zuo ma? (Are you looking for a job?)

What will unemployment mean for the future and how students view education if hard working graduates can’t find jobs? That is the dilemma China faces as the unemployment rate rises. Low-cost and unskilled labor is in high demand leaving the 6.3 million graduates looking for a job this year in the dust as they look for high-skilled jobs.

France: Unemployment World Fact

Posted by admin On March - 3 - 2010

FRANCE

*Here are the facts*:

Capital: Paris

Population: 64,057,792

country comparison to the world: 21

Labor Force: 27.99 million (2009 est.)

Labor force by occupation:

agriculture: 3.8%

industry: 24.3%

services: 71.8% (2005)

Unemployment rate: 9.7% (2009 est.)

Government type: Republic with a bicameral Parliament

President: President Nicolas SARKOZY (since 16 May 2007)

Prime Minster: Francois FILLON (since 17 May 2007)

More Facts:

The government has partially or fully privatized many large companies, banks, and insurers
It maintains a strong presence in power, public transport, and defense
France maintains the third largest income in the world from tourism
France’s leaders remain committed to a capitalism that maintains social equity via laws, tax policies, and social spending to lower income disparity
France has weathered the global economic crisis better than most other big EU economies because of more resilient consumer and government spending, and lower exposure to the downturn in global demand.
The government passed a $35 billion stimulus plan in February 2009 centered on investment in infrastructure and tax breaks for small businesses.

Population living under the poverty line: 6.2% (2004)

Inflation Rate (consumer prices): 0.1% (2009 est.)

If you have anything you would like to add, or have personal experience with France, please don’t hesitate to contact us at: questions@obsoletewhenallemployed.com

Next week: Iran

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Global Impact: FRANCE, JOBS and CONTAGION

Posted by admin On March - 3 - 2010

: Anne-Sophie Navaux – OWAE’s French Correspondent

1 — How does having an American college education or education in general effect opportunities in France? Do they idealize American education over there? Do they value education? How does religion play a part in these opportunities?

Going to an American University is a French dream. We all want to discover the “new world” and we wanna experience the American dream and the campus life ( frats, sorority, sports….)
Because we watch a lot of American movies we would die to do the same things and for the image you guys convey.
So basically if you went to an American University you’re lucky (because it’s very expensive compared to the French ones, where the tuition is low). Again, it opens professional “doors” because it probably means that you’re almost bilingual, you’re open minded and you are aware of the American market. I’d say that you’ll have something more than any other “basic French student”.

As for religion, I guess if you’re a muslim or if you’re black and there’s a good french white man [applying for the same position] they’re going to give him the position.

2– What is the typical jobs available there for men and women our age 18-27? Expectations, salary, etc.?

It depends on your studies or to which universities you went to. In france it’s way different than in the States because you have to choose your major right after high school and you can’t, for example, study math and French at the same time. For instance, I studied english after high school so at the university I only studied english for 4 years. I had Us and british civilization classes, grammar, phonetics and so on but all classes were related to English.
So basically it depends on the subject you decided to take after high school.

3 — What does it take to get a job there? Coverletters? Test? Resume? Referral? Corruption? How hard or easy is it?
To get a job here you need to study for at least 4 to 6 years if you want to get a decent job. So usually French students do a master and then they usually have to find a internship. Then, if they’re good at it they can get hired by the firm or company they’re working for. Otherwise if you want to apply for a job you need resume, coverletters and lots of interviews. Corruption exists of course but i won’t call it corruption. It’s usually a relative who would give your resume to the person in charge. You’re not sure to get the position but you’re sure that your resume has been read and not thrown in the bin.

Again it depends on your job because for me it’s way different. I didn’t have to apply for a job. I just had to study hard and it’s like a challenge if you like there are a certain number of positions and you have to get yours and get through the tests and be the best one (that’s for teachers).

As for the salary, again it depends on your position but usually you get what we call the “SMIC” which is the minimum wage. It’s around 1000 euros but most of the time you get around 1300 euros but you can get more very quickly. Remember that we do not have to pay a lot for social security. It costs me 50 euros every month to get fully covered.

4 — How has the global recession affected France? Or not? Contagion effect?

The crisis has been tough on most french people and still is. If you’re working for the government that is to say teachers, people from the train company, post office, taxes, the police, city hall and so on you are what we call a government employee. That means that the government pays you from the French people’s taxes so you don’t have to worry about your job because it’s easy to get in but hard to get out.

So in France we have a “public”( as mentioned above) and a “private system”.
For the private one you have to apply for a job yourself and now in France it’s pretty tough. You almost have to harass companies to get an interview and it can take at least 5 months to find a job even if you’re highly qualified. They want someone who has worked for at least two years. It’s a vicious circle.

If you would like to be a correspondent, let us know at questions@obsoletewhenallemployed.com

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Unconventional Guides Repost: “If they hadn’t been pushed…”

Posted by Ebony J. On February - 22 - 2010

I stumbled upon an article that got me thinking…there are definitely people who are rising above all this unemployment and recession stuff…

You can see the full article here: If They Hadn’t Been Pushed, They Never Would Have Made the Leap

I in some ways have been given a push…but I don’t know where my leap is going to land me!

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Unemployment World Fact File: Republic of Haiti

Posted by admin On February - 19 - 2010

Since Haiti has been in the news a lot recently, we wanted to start off our fact file with the island nation.

*Here are the facts*:

Capital: Port-Au-Prince

Population: 9,035,536

country comparison to the world: 89

Haiti is about the size of the State of Maryland

Labor Force: 3.642 million

Shortage of skilled labor, unskilled labor abundant

Labor force by occupation:

agriculture: 66%

industry: 9%

services: 25%

Unemployment rate: Not available, but it is know that there is widespread unemployment, and underemployment. Many work in the informal sector, more than two-thirds of the population do not have a formal job. Corruption has also lead to sluggish job growth and creation.

Government type: semi-presidential republic; both a prime minister and president have their hands in the pot, and call the shots on the day-to-day administration of the state.

President: Rene Preval

Prime Minster: Jean-Max Bellerive

More Facts:

Haiti became the first black republic to declare independence in 1804 from France. The poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, Haiti has been plagued by political violence for most of its history. Despite this, Haiti has maintained a rich Afro-Caribbean culture and a sense of pride among their people, for surviving despite many obstacles.
80%: Population living under the poverty line
54% : Population living under abject poverty
1% of the population hold majority of the wealth

*Disclaimer*: This is all information pre-earthquake devastation. If you are interested in up to date information concerning Haiti look at

Huffington Post Haiti Widget

Red Cross

As for the present unemployment and job situation in Haiti, at the moment that is irrelevant, people are more concerned with survival and rebuilding at the moment. The damage the earthquake has done to Haiti’s already troubled economy, and workforce remains to be unseen.

Keep an eye out for this post, because we will add more to it in the future.

If you have anything you would like to add, or have personal experience with Haiti, please don’t hesitate to contact us at: questions@obsoletewhenallemployed.com

Next week: France (ironic, huh?)

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36 states reporting declining unemployment, and more from South Africa

Posted by Ebony J. On December - 21 - 2009

36 states reporting declining unemployment – Dec. 18, 2009.

Full story above….

This post is going to be two-fold, for your pleasure…

Supposedly more and more states are reporting declining in unemployment (yay!) but CNN had some troubling stats to go along with these findings. According to CNN and The Department of Labor, the unemployment gap between whites and blacks is becoming wider and wider, which is making many debate as to the reasons for this. As of now, Black Americans have the highest rates of unemployment. Educated Black Americans also have the highest rates of unemployment among those who have obtained higher education.

In a different part of the world, the gap in unemployment seems to be following racial lines as well:

According to the New York Times:

“Although South Africa is the continent’s wealthiest country, income inequality remains among the worst in the world. About 29 percent of blacks are unemployed, compared with 5 percent of whites. When statistics include discouraged workers, or dropouts from the labor force, the jobless rate climbs to nearly 50 percent. Most of the unemployed have never held a single job, according to a study by a panel of international economists.”

Tatenda G. talks some more about what is really going on down in South Africa:

The strengthening of the rand against the dollar is creating a new dip in the unemployment situation of this country. Though the US dollar has been stronger recently, the weakening of the US dollar directly affects our manufacturing and production sectors, and has since the beginning of 2009. It is speculated that if the dollar does not get stronger, two million jobs are going to be lost due to the for casted cutting down in production (this is because the US is not importing or exporting goods with SA anymore). Two more million people on the streets, two million more job hunters, two million people without a paycheck. The situation is getting more and more tense everyday.

Even the police have been reporting about an increase in basic commodity theft from grocery stores. Most people are finding it hard to cope with the situation so they have resorted to crime. A lot of people now have a low self-esteem and have given up hope on getting jobs. The public shelters are overflowing with people that can not afford to pay rent. I even know of some people that are buying TB contaminated *sputum so that they be be diagnosed with the disease and be put on the government disability fund just to get a little bit of cash and get along with the requirements of their everyday lives.

This situation has also led to a decline in the services rendered by local governments. Just recently Durban commuters were stranded after the local bus service provider pulled from the roads because they could not offer the service anymore and a lot people lost their jobs due to that situation. Also in Cape Town, a lot of train commuters were left without a plan after the Metrorail workers went on strike requesting wage increases. Most people did not work due to the lack of transportation further plunging the production and the revenue into turmoil .

Unless a logical and effective step is taken, and we all try to figure a way of empowering ourselves and becoming our own bosses…this situation will never change…

This is disgusting, but sputum is ”matter that is expectorated from the respiratory tract, such as mucus or phlegm”

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Flashback/Repost/Recap/Whatever You Like

Posted by admin On December - 14 - 2009

Here is the first report from our South Africa Correspondent, Tatenda. It was posted a couple of weeks ago, but I felt a need to repost it, to help keep him in mind because he has more good stuff coming our way real soon…If you are interested in sharing what is going on in your part of the world, please hit us up at thunemploymentchronicles@gmail.com….or if you would like to be correspondent, also hit us up as well!!

Presidente Jacob Zuma, not our correspondent Tate, courtesy MSNBC

Every other day I wake up, wash my face and quicky go down stairs to get my morning newspaper only to be greeted by shocking headlines such as: “27 million South Africans underemployed”. After reading this article I realized how extreme the situation has become lately with more than 18 million being unemployed and the rest earning below the stipulated minimum wage. Most people are now directly affected by this chronic situation, even the employed live in constant fear of loseing their jobs because of too much competition in the job market and this has fuelled nepotism. Its no longer about how qualified you are its now about who you know.
It was disturbing to see soldiers demonstrating to address their unrests against the government due to undermployment. The government is feeling the strain of the recession so they have drastically cut down on income raises of all civil servants, and soldiers were the worst affected given the fact that their salaries fall way below the stipulated minimum wage. The truth is that the government has failed to take care of thoes who have been loyal to its departments. Due to skyrocketing tax deficits, the situation of increasing wages to all civil servant remains a dream. It has led to a sad situation of mass resignation from a lot of government professionals like nurses and doctors who head for Europe, Australia and and the United States, and this has left a huge void in most departments….

Tatenda G.

South Africa correspondent.

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South Africa: Things Seem To Be Getting Worse Every Day…

Posted by admin On October - 13 - 2009

South Africa

Every other day I wake up, wash my face and quicky go down stairs to get my morning newspaper only to be greeted by shocking headlines such as: “27 million South Africans underemployed”. After reading this article I realized how extreme the situation has become lately with more than 18 million being unemployed and the rest earning below the stipulated minimum wage. Most people are now directly affected by this chronic situation, even the employed live in constant fear of loseing their jobs because of too much competition in the job market and this has fuelled nepotism. Its no longer about how qualified you are its now about who you know.
It was disturbing to see soldiers demonstrating to address their unrests against the government due to undermployment. The government is feeling the strain of the recession so they have drastically cut down on income raises of all civil servants, and soldiers were the worst affected given the fact that their salaries fall way below the stipulated minimum wage. The truth is that the government has failed to take care of thoes who have been loyal to its departments. Due to skyrocketing tax deficits, the situation of increasing wages to all civil servant remains a dream. It has led to a sad situation of mass resignation from a lot of government professionals like nurses and doctors who head for Europe, Australia and and the United States, and this has left a huge void in most departments….

Tatenda G.

South Africa correspondent.